100 Days in Space – International Space Station Travel Bug Mission Update

“What does your food taste like?” Students from Tinker School in Waterbury, Connecticut ask astronaut Rick Mastracchio and get the answer straight from space.

Mastracchio says: “We have all kinds of food here on the space station. Most of the food has all the air and water removed to make it smaller and lighter. Then when we want to eat it we add water to it and it returns to its original form and shape. It does not taste as good as the food you have at home but it is pretty good.”

Almost 100 days ago geocachers at more than 1100 events across the globe cheered a Travel Bug as it rocketed toward the International Space Station. Now the Travel Bug has circled the Earth many times (How many times a day? Find the answer here) and made up a mind blowing distance of more than 40 million miles. More than 1200 posts have been logged so far on the Travel Bug page, as classrooms ask questions and Mastracchhio (Geocaching name AstroRM) answers them from zero-gravity.

Also dangling in zero-gravity are hitchhikes attached to the famous Travel Bug. There’s a hitchhiker for each of the schools following Rick’s adventure from the Travel Bug page. It’s been so popular additional hitchhikers have been flown to the space station on supply missions. Each of the current schools will receive one of the Travel Bug hitchhikers once Rick returns to Earth in May of this year.
Check out the Q&A with Astronaut Rick Mastracchio here. This is a great resource for teachers to bring to their classroom and anyone interested to learn about life on the ISS, geography and science. For the visual learner, have a look at the Pinterest board or check out the gallery on the trackable details page.

Do you or your students have questions about space travel, that have not been answered yet? Post them on the Travel Bug details page! Let us know what school you are from, the grade, city, state and country!

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Call me picky… but is loggable distance for a travel bug from cache to cache or does it also include the distance travelled en route? Or… is there actually a geocache on the station reserved for a VERY select few?

Soniccaver

The space travel bug has travel 1444000 miles since in space.

BlindPilot

Even items on earth “travel thru space” both as the earth rotates on its axis, revolves around the sun, and our solar system migrates thru space. I put a travel bug on my car tire; does the rotation of the wheel add to distance traveled?

Robert M. Clarke

erm.. the distance your car tyre travels in one rotation is the same distance your car travels forwards.

We don’t measure the actual mileage travelled between caches though, just the crow-flies distance.

Brenda Maxwell

9271.1 miles space travel bug has traveled.

Geo-Tobako

The ISS travels approximatly 41756144 miles within 100 days.

Salme Maijala

28 million miles

TeamYellowFish

About 108 million miles ?

Alphabetbubi

24,562,892.59 miles? 😀

Jim Pullen

Jim Pullen About 43,200,000 Miles

Echbon

Is a great Thing

Silvio Olivetti

66’614’400 km or 41’392’256.34 miles

Bryan Williams

ALun, if I am correct (and I have a few coins out in the geocaching world) it is total distance travelled from its original starting point to where ever it is now, and if it moves, it continues to add up.

bob

Car tires travel at the rate of 2×pi raised to total vehicle distance divided by 1 mole of oxygen atoms × number of atomic ocillations of cesium per second.

Alun James

I understand what you are saying but it opens the door for grand larceny (in good humour). For example, if I pick up a travel bug close to home then do a circumnavigation (or 2) then drop it in another cache 1km away we are saying that the distance is claimable? The space bug in question is unique because the fact that it has travelled is a matter of public record. It would be better still if the authorities allowed for the placement of a true cach on the station.

Michael Kugler

For me 46 754 892 of miles

Quinton Smith

There is a Travel Bug I believe on the Station…..which means you have to be an Astronaut to log found it, which ALSO means you are a SELECT FEW!! your 1st question I believe is repetitive…logable distance is the ditotal distance a TB travels.

JC Sahil

Thanks for providing the information. I really like your blog. Thanks a lot for your posting.

Goldfinch593

Just discovered the copy of this Travel Bug at the Berkshire Geobash #3. Thanks to cizzors for sharing it! Goldfinch593. Seabrook, NH.

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